


The Weight of Your Words

by Not_Monday



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M, Sad Liam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-20
Updated: 2014-05-20
Packaged: 2018-01-25 20:35:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1661603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Not_Monday/pseuds/Not_Monday
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A Game of Call or Delete with Louis and Harry goes wrong and Liam gets hurt.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Weight of Your Words

Louis sighed as he sat down in front of his microphone, glaring at Harry as he chatted happily with Nick.  Things with Grimshaw had gotten heated on twitter recently and their PR team had had enough, forcing him to come in and do a segment with him in order to convey a “loving friendship under the tension” or something. Louis had staunchly refused until they agreed that Harry could sit in with him, and that it would be a session of Call or Delete not an interview.

 

An intern came in and gave them the thirty second warning, cutting off Harry’s excited jabbering. Louis grabbed his headphones and prayed that this would be quick and painless. He paid little attention to Nick’s intro, muttering a quiet “G’morning” when he was introduced. Luckily he had managed to convince their team not to record the session or else he wouldn’t be able to sell any semblance of amiability between himself and Nick.

 

“Louis” He jumped as Nick addressed him “ why don’t you go first, do you want me to go over the rules again or..?”

 

“I got it” Louis replied politely, straining to keep from rolling his eyes.  

 

“Alright, scroll in three, two, one….” Louis began scrolling through his contacts praying that he wouldn’t get his mum.

 

“Stop. Who’ve you got?” Grimmy asked.

 

“Who is it?” Harry asked excitedly, bumping knees with him.

 

“It’s the good ole Payn-o” Louis answered grinning as Harry whooped. He definitely wasn’t gonna delete Liam’s number and he hadn’t pulled a prank on him in forever.

 

“Are you gonna call or delete?” The host asked mockingly.

 

“Call, definitely. I haven’t pranked Leemo in forever.” Louis answered, excited for the first time cine he’d been told he would have to do this.

 

“What’re you gonna say? You could tell him that..that Niall’s dyed his hair pink! Wait he’s already done that..maybe that Zayn’s gone missing? But Zayn does that regularly….. You could tell him that…. I don’t know.” Harry rambled. Louis looked at Harry confused, how much coffee had he had this morning.

 

“Ignoring young Harold’s endearing suggestions” Nick said eyeing to boy in question confusedly “ You’ve just broken up with your lady love right? Why don’t you give Mr Liam a call and ask him on a date.” He finished with a grin.

 

“Only an idiot would fall for that Grimshaw, thought these were supposed to be believable.” Louis snapped.

“C’mon love, I was gonna let you off easy. It is your first time after all, unless of course you’re too chicken for even the simplest call.” Grimmy goaded.

 

Harry tensed beside him. “I don’t think this is a good idea Louis.” He said, serious for the first time since they’d arrived.

 

“It’s fine” Louis brushed off, he couldn’t give Grimmy the satisfaction of not going through with this. “Besides you and I both know that Liam listens to this show every morning when we’re home. He’ll just play along.”

 

“Louis, really, this really isn’t a good idea. Please don’t” Harry asked quietly. Louis looked at him, eyebrow raised.

 

“Give me one good reason.” Harry looked torn but remained quiet. “Exactly. Ring him up, Grimshaw”

 

Louis narrowed his eyes at the challenging look Grimmy gave him while the phone rang. Harry sat next to him silently, chewing on his thumbnail, breath catching when Liam picked up.

 

_“LOU!”_ Liam’s voice rang through Louis’ headphones. _“Hey I’ve been working on som-”_

 

_“Li, sorry, but this is kinda important can we discuss work later?”_

_“Sure! What’s up?”_

_“Look, I don’t know how to tell you this. Could you just keep quiet until I finish?”_

_“Course mate.”_ Li replied, sounding concerned.

 

“ _I know that we didn’t really get on at the beginning but, you’re so kind and you’re always there for me and I was really like you. I really like you.”_ Louis continued as Harry stared at him wide-eyed and horrified. _“ Would you go on a date with me? Like as more than friends”_ He heard Liam’s breath catch. _“Li?”_

 

_“I- yeah. Yes, course Louis.”_ Louis smiled, he loved when the boys played along with his jokes.

 

_“Alright, I gotta go but I’ll text you later babes. Okay?”_

_“Yeah. Bye Lou.”_

 

Louis smiled as the call ended, that had gone well.

 

“Well done Mr. Tomlinson and of course a big Breakfast Show thanks to Mr. Payne for playing along, can you live up to those acting skills Mr. Styles? Perhaps One Direction missed they’re calling.” Grimmy said smiling at Harry.

 

“Yeah.” Harry laughed weakly. Louis worried, he’d have to talk to him later and make sure everything was alright. Harry was acting weird.

 

\-----

 

Liam wore a full blown grin as he hung up after Louis’ call. He couldn’t believe it, after all the years of hopelessly obvious pining, Louis was finally giving him a shot.

 

Glancing at the clock he cursed before rushing out the door, he couldn’t be late for his session with Mark. He whistled quietly as he dropped his stuff in the trunk, trying to figure out what he and Lou could do that wouldn’t be too public.

 

He started the car, grin even wider when he heard the breakfast show was still on, before rifling around looking for his sunglasses.

 

_“Welcome back. You’ve just heard Love Me Again by John Newman.”_ Nick said cheerily _“We are now back with ⅖ of One Direction. Mr. Louis Tomlinson and Mr. Harry Styles. Now Mr. Styles are you ready for your Call or Delete?”_

 

Huh. Liam didn’t know that was today.

 

_“Now, we’ve already heard from Louis who placed a marvelous call to one Liam Payne…..”_

 

Liam felt his heart stop. He checked his phone for a missed call... maybe it had been after…. but no. He felt a cold pain settle in but, Harry knew he would never let…. and Louis…..would never….. _I really like you…..more than friends_ …..Louis hadn’t meant any of it.

 

Staring blankly at his phone, he slowly turned off the car before making his way back inside, forgetting all about Mark. As he crawled into bed he heard his phone ping with a new message...and then again...and again but, it was all he could do to reach over and turn it off.  

 

These boys were supposed to be his brothers and he had never felt so betrayed. Suddenly, he longed for the numbing blankness he had felt after he and Dani had parted ways. Anything was better than this.

 

Blanket gripped tightly, he resolved to try and sleep the hurt away.

  
  
  


He was startled into awareness by a banging on his front door, forgetting for a moment what had happened, he wondered who was at the door.

 

And then he remembered. And then the pain came rushing back. This time accompanied by tears that pricked at his eyes and trouble breathing. Slowly, he calmed down before he made his way to the door to look through the peephole. As he moved closer to the front of his apartment he noticed that the banging was accompanied by cries of his name.

 

Looking through the peephole, he was not surprised to see a frantic Harry on the other side. Quietly he wiped the tears off his face as he debated letting the younger man in. Deciding to hear at least one of them out before succumbing to his grief he quietly opened the door before moving towards his kitchen to make tea. The sound of footsteps letting him know that Harry had come in.

 

“Liam?” Harry’s timid question rang throughout the otherwise empty apartment. “Li, please-” Stopping as Liam raised his hand, he wanted to finish preparing the tea before he heard what Harry had to say.

 

A few minutes later, they sat on opposite ends of his couch mugs clutched tightly in their hands. “How- Hazza you knew and you just let him… and.. and then I found out from a recap of the segment.”

 

Harry paled. “You weren’t even listening to the show when he called? Shit. Look Li, I didn’t want him to do it. Grimmy goaded him into it and you know how Louis” Harry Shook his head “I tried to stop him but he wanted a reason and I couldn’t tell him, especially not on radio. You listen to Grim’s show every morning so I hoped that maybe you knew and you were playing along. But, shit Li, I’m so sorry. I should have tried harder, or texted you a warning, done anything that would have kept you from that.” Harry looked at Liam, praying for some sign of forgiveness.

 

“...He doesn’t know?” Liam whispered staring into his mug.

 

“No, I rushed out as soon as we finished. Didn’t want him to start asking questions and I needed to check on you.”

 

“You know? I don’t know if that’s better or worse.” Liam said “I’ve always trusted you boys.Always. And I feel surprised, betrayed, hurt, and…...angry. But now I question myself. Should I be surprised when this kind of thing always happened in school? Do I have a right to feel betrayed when you tried to stop it? Can I be hurt when I’m losing something I’ve never had? Can I be angry if Louis didn’t know?”

 

Harry moved over to Liam, pulling him into his arms and cuddling him close.

 

“Liam listen to me. You are validated in absolutely everything you are feeling. We’ve always claimed to be best mates, family, and you should never expect something like this from us ever. Do you understand? EVER. I had the ability to stop this from happening and I didn’t try hard enough, I don’t blame you for one second for feeling betrayed.”

 

Harry pulled Liam’s head up to look into his eyes. “Losing something you’ve never had is a completely valid reason to be hurt. But, you...you lost something you thought you had for even the briefest of moments and I would imagine that’s a million times worse. And Louis, you can be angry at Louis. For listening to his pride over me, for thinking that that type of prank would ever be okay, and you can be angry at him for giving you false hope. Even if he didn’t know it, because his knowledge does not have any affect on the validity of your feelings. Okay?”

 

Liam nodded before curling up in Harry’s lap as the tears started falling again.

 

“I know Hazza. It just all hurts so much.”

 

Harry felt like crawling in a hole and never coming out. How could he have let this happen.

 

“I know love. I’m so sorry.”

  
  


\-----

 

Louis tried calling Harry again. He had rushed out of the station like a bat outta hell and Louis had no idea where he went.

 

“ _You have reached the voicemail bo-”_ He hung up angrily. Why wasn’t he answering? His phone rang, finally.

 

_“Harold. You better have a good reason for-”_

_“Are you fucking out of your mind?”_ Not Harry then Louis thought.

 

_“What’ve I done know Zayn?”_ He asked distractedly, why hadn’t that boy called him back.

 

_“Can you tell my why your small and idiotic mind thought it would be a good idea to mess with Liam like that?”_ Zayn snapped at him. Wait- what?

 

_“What are you talking about? I haven’t pranked Liam in ages.”_

 

_“This morning on the radio you bastard. Everyone in the world knows that Liam is head over fucking heels in love with you and then you call him and ask him out as a damn joke?”_ Zayn yelled.

What?

 

_“What are you talking about? Liam is not in love with me and he knew what was going on, he listens to the Breakfast show every morning.”_

 

_“Well you tell that to the boy currently crying his eyes out all over Harry. Perrie’s making some food for me to take him, so you better find a way to fix this because if he’s still the miserable mess I talked to on the phone when I get there you’re in big trouble.”_ Zayn finished angrily before hanging up.

 

He doesn’t know how long he stood there before his phone rang again. Jumping he answered it.

 

_“Hello?”_ He asked cautiously.

 

_“Where are you?”_ An Irish voice filtered through. Niall.

 

_“What? At my house, why?”_

_“Because I am going to come and get your ass and you are going to go grovel at Liam’s feet. I just left his house and if I ever have to watch him cry again I may gouge my own eyes out. Chances are that would be less painful.”_

_“I’m still not entirely sure what I did wrong and why isn’t anyone yelling at Harry?”_

_“Because Harry and Liam have already worked things out and he did try and stop you from ripping Liam’s heart out. I’’ll be at your house in five.”_ Niall hung up with a sigh.

 

Louis sank down onto his couch. Liam loved him. Liam was crying. Liam loved him. Louis asked him out as a joke. Liam loved him. _Fuck._  Liam _loved_ him.

 

How the hell was he gonna fix this?

 

He thought about Liam and his warm brown eyes welling up with tears and flinched at the thought. Liam looked strong but he was a little puppy dog inside easily hurt and needing to be looked after, that was Louis’ job. He loved looking after Liam and making sure he was okay, how could he have fucked this up so bad? How could he have never noticed Liam’s feelings?

 

The more he thought about it….

 

He knew what he had to do.

 

Niall nodded at him as he climbed in the car, before pulling out of the driveway and heading towards Liam. They rode in an uncomfortable silence, the first since the X Factor days. Half-way there Niall finally spoke.

 

“How’re you gonna fix this?”

 

“Well…I’m gonna grovel and beg and plead and ….I’m gonna ask him out. For real.” Louis said uncharacteristically serious.

 

Niall looked at him in shock before jerking his eyes back to the road. “You better mean that Tomlinson” Louis flinched. “Because if you don’t feel anything for him, don’t think for a second that some kind of pity date is gonna make things better.”

 

“No! No!” Louis said emphatically “I mean it. I’ve thought this through and the thought of him so upset is tearing me up inside, that it’s my fault is practically ripping me apart. I love Liam. I love that he’s entertained by grasshoppers  and cares about the fans more than himself. I love that he’s a giggly cuddly drunk and that he always chooses me to snuggle with. It’s my job to look after him, I want to always look after him and make sure he’s okay. Please understand.”

 

“Alright” Niall said. “Don’t fuck up again.”

 

Louis nodded, if Liam forgave him he would do his best to keep him happy.

 

\-----

 

Liam sighed trying to stem the flow of tears, he had seen the look on Niall’s face earlier. He didn’t want to cause anyone else pain though the way Harry kept cuddling him and telling him everything would be alright wasn’t helping him calm down. He didn’t know where Niall had gone and he had talked to Zayn on the phone for a little before handing him off to Harry who, after leaving for a brief moment, told him that Zayn was on his way with some food Perrie had made him which set him off all over again. What had he done to deserve such wonderful friends? Why was everyone else so kind to him and Louis so unknowingly cruel?

 

Harry left again when he heard Liam’s doorbell go off. Assuming it was Zayn, Liam grabbed some more pillows from the chair next to the couch knowing that Zayn would want to cuddle and nap.

 

“....don’t know. Just let me ask first okay?” He heard Harry’s voice drift in from the hallway.

 

Moments later Harry appeared. “Liam? Louis is here and um he’d like to speak with you if that’s alright?”

 

Liam’s eyes went wide.

 

“It’s okay to say no, Li.”

 

Liam thought it over, deciding that trying to get past his stupid crush should be done sooner rather than later. For the sake of the band.

 

“I’ll um I’ll see him” He said nervously, wringing his hands in his lap. He kept his gaze down as Louis entered the room and sat opposite him.

 

“Hey Li.” Louis whispered. Liam cleared his throat.

 

“Hi Louis, how’re you?” He asked, proud that he kept his voice from wavering.

 

“Me? I’m, I’m fine. Can we talk? About this morning?”

 

Liam nodded.

 

“I’m so sorry for doing that to you. I had no idea you felt that way and it’s no excuse, I should have listened when Harry told me to stop. My pride has always been such a problem for me and I can’t believe I’ve hurt you thi-.”

 

“Louis,” Liam interrupted “Really, it’s my fault I should have gotten over these dumb feelings by now and I should have realized… it was stupid to think that you and me could have ever truly happened.”

 

“Li” Louis whispered “No, it’s not stupid at all babes. I...After some time and after you’ve truly forgiven me then if you still want I would like to take you out. For real.”

 

“Louis, you don’t have to promise me some pity date just so i’ll forgive you. It’ll take time but we’ll get there.” Liam responded, shaking his head.

 

“Li, it’s not pity. I’ve done a lot of thinking today and listened to a lot of yelling and I love you. I want to take care of you and make you happy and be with you. So please, once we work through this, and I’ll ask again when the time comes, I would like to take you out on a date.”

 

Liam looked closely at him, nodding slowly when he seemed serious.

“I think we’ve discussed this enough for today, okay? And I think I heard Zayn come in while we were talking. Perrie apparently sent food, so let’s go eat and we’ll talk about this again later.” Liam said before standing up and holding out his hand for Louis.

 

“Okay” Louis said hesitantly “You should go first though, just in case Zayn wants to punch me on sight.” He added, only partially joking.

 

Liam knew it would take some work to forgive Louis but he was confident they would be okay in the end, and that he would finally get his date.


End file.
